It was sad to say goodbye to Sri Lanka. I’ve really enjoyed it.

The people are so friendly, totally unlike anywhere else in the world.

The food is delicious.

They pack so much stuff into a small country: beaches, temples, mountains,tea – you can do something different every day.

I’ve loved it.

I spent my last morning by the pool, having a swim and enjoying the beach. Then off in a tuk tuk to the airport. The hotel had quoted me $40 (£30) to be dropped of at the airport, I paid £4.

The route to the airport, and the airport, covered in commonwealth country flags. There seemed a lot of layers of security at the airport – possibly more than normal.

I was rather early for my 1.45pm flight. The shops were rather expensive. As 1.45pm approached, the gate got very busy – and mostly Chinese!! I felt like rather a scruff.

Off to Male.

The flight took just over an hour, coming down to land on a small island, surrounded by other small white pretty islands.

The Maldives.

The airport is very small and basic. I was picked up at arrivals and walked to the dock. There is no car park here. Apparently not even any roads. The only options for transport are by boat or seaplane!

I was being picked up by boat. It was just a 10 minute ride out to the second boat – my home for the next week.

MV Leo. Wow – it’s fancy.

A jacuzzi at the front, huge lounge area with wifi (!) 4 decks, topped with a sun roof. And a lovely cabin with AC (won’t be using that!) and hot showers (novel!). It was 4pm when I arrived, so we were given a quick briefing, filled out some paperwork and then went outside to watch the lovely sunset. Dinner was at 7pm. Amazing. So much salad, curry and fruit.